WHAT’S UP WITH PHIL’S GAME HEADING INTO PGA?

The San Diegan is 42 years old and still capable of greatness, as his final round of 64 at Pebble Beach this year proved. Mickelson is three years younger than Steve Stricker and the same age as Jim Furyk — two veterans who are still tearing it up with the young guns on the PGA Tour.

But when Mickelson got on his private plane that Sunday night in February after his stunning trouncing of Tiger Woods at Pebble, it was as if a small piece of him, some competitive DNA, didn’t make it back to Palomar Airport.

As the world’s best players head into the season’s final major, the PGA Championship, this week at the Kiawah Island (S.C.) Ocean Course, Mickelson truly seems at a crossroads. He had five top-7 finishes through May, but since then he’s had a withdrawal, a tie for 65th in the U.S. Open, two rare missed cuts, including the British Open, and a tie for 43rd last week in the WGC-Bridgestone.

Mickelson looks tired and, at times, unmotivated and out of sorts. He was more outwardly angry at himself at Royal Lytham than we ever remember seeing. At The Olympic Club for the U.S. Open, he spent less time on the range than he has at previous majors, and his body language early in the tournament said, “I’d rather be with the kids at the beach.”

That he’s in a funk cannot be denied, though Mickelson steadfastly maintains that everything is fine, and that he feels good about the direction of his game. He raved about a new putter last week at Firestone, and he said in an interview a week ago, “Right now, things could not be better from a personal standpoint. Amy and the kids are doing terrific. Physically, I’ve been able to do everything I need to do to start playing some better golf.”

After saying that, Mickelson, in a field of 75 last week, tied for 65th in driving accuracy (37.5 percent), 61st in driving distance (301.4 yards) and 60th in greens in regulation (55.6 percent). The new putter is the only thing that didn’t give him trouble.

So what’s going on with Phil? He’s not saying, but something isn’t right.

Phil’s health

It was two years ago this week that Mickelson revealed that he was suffering from psoriatic arthritis, a rare form of arthritis that can cause extreme joint pain and overwhelming fatigue. Some doctors have been amazed that he can play professional golf at all, while Mickelson has become a user of Enbrel, the primary drug used to treat the disease.

He also has become a pitchman for Enbrel, which puts him in a tough spot in discussing side effects or not feeling the way he wants to.

Mickelson says his health is good, but as Golf Channel commentator Brandel Chamblee said on a conference call last week, “I think Phil Mickelson is reluctant to be completely transparent because it opens himself up to a lot of different questions that he probably wouldn’t want to answer. So we are left to fill in the blanks somewhat.”

Frank Nobilo, another former player and Golf Channel broadcaster, said he himself has rheumatoid arthritis. Nobilo wonders if Mickelson is suffering more than he’s letting on.

“Phil is not one to give excuses,” Nobilo said. “… Obviously, his game is not sharp. It doesn’t look like he’s been able to put the time in that he would have liked. I have heard a lot of people say that that’s actually given him some leeway.

“But the problem with any form of rheumatoid arthritis, it’s not like you feel bad (all of the time); you feel good for two days, for three days. It’s just hard to get feeling good for four days or five days, which is needed to play golf at the highest level for one week.”

Phil’s motivation

As competitive as he is, there must be weeks and tournaments on the PGA Tour when Mickelson would rather be at home in Rancho Santa Fe than trudging through hot and sticky summer weather, as he did last week in Ohio.

But the majors would seem to be different. Mickelson is on hold with four major titles and he hasn’t won any of the biggest prizes other than the Masters since the 2005 PGA at Baltusrol. He badly wants a U.S. Open trophy, so it was telling that, despite being highly motivated to play with Woods the first two days at Olympic, he shot 16-over for the championship, his worst Open finish since missing the cut in 2007.

“You would like to think he’s still got another three or four years to compete in major championships, and that’s where I think his interest is keenest, obviously,” Chamblee said.

Beyond that, “I’m with you,” he said. “He’s won 40 times; he’s in the Hall of Fame. How much more does he have to prove to anybody? I think beyond just trying for his own personal goal of winning the career Grand Slam, I think that’s pretty much all that would move the meter in Phil’s world.”

You have to wonder what the Hall of Fame ceremony in May did for him. Yes, Mickelson downplayed it as much as possible, seeming almost wary to acknowledge the significance, but he has not played sharply since the ceremony. Coincidence?

There also is that small matter of being a part of the O’Malley group that just purchased the Padres. It would be silly to think Mickelson has been so distracted by it to truly affect his golf, but it’s also proof of his growing interests outside of playing, which also include golf course design.

Phil’s game

There is a possibility that all of this is just useless hand-wringing. The guy may just be in a slump. It happens to the best of them. Ask Woods, Stricker, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.

Chamblee points out that Mickelson’s driver speed has steadily decreased in recent years. He’s down more than 7 yards on average from last year. No small thing with all the kid bombers out there.

The driver remains wildly unpredictable (he’s 177th on tour in accuracy) and the short game — which has saved Mickelson in the past — has not been as sharp.

But the confounding and beautiful thing about Mickelson is that it could all turn on one hole. Maybe one shot.

“He can look tired and unmotivated and all the rest, but you just never know,” CBS commentator David Feherty said Monday. “That’s one of the great things about him. You never know when he’s going to play well or when he’s going to do something like the average golfer might do.

“He has that wonderful flaw that makes us sort of relate to him. He’s such an unknown quantity. He can quite easily play fantastic this week.”